Dark Diary
by Erizawa Hoshi
Summary: CHAPTER FOUR Kurosaki Karin gets some particularly unwanted attention from some upperclassmen at her school. What will she do now her brother has found out? NC, Lemon, maybe some WAFF, incestuous behaviours later on, and all that stuff.
1. Chance Encounters

**Author:** - Erizawa Hoshie.

**Title:** - Dark Diary.

**Genre:** - Drama/Angst (maybe some romance later on if you're good.)

**Summary:** - Kurosaki Karin at school, gets some, unwanted attention from some upperclassmen. Very unwanted, but how will she keep I from her prying older brother?

**Rating:** - M, very very M. (There will be harassment, there will be rape, there might even be incest, you have been warned.)

**Disclammer:** - Do. Not. Own. Bleach. Period.

**Notes:** - This is a fic in response to a challenge set by a certain young lady on It was partially to aid in my crippling writer's block, part because it looked like fun. It was kinda tough at first, but I got into my stride. Just read, review and hope for the best.

Finally, I am of English nationality. When I say football, I mean FOOTBALL. The proper stuff. With feet and balls. No hands. Not the rubbish the Americans pertain to call football. They use their hands people!... Sorry, I'm calm now.

Karin sulked in her chair. She tried not to look like she was sulking but it was apparent to all that she was. She hated lessons. The teachers all talked to her like she was some sort of idiot. She stared wistfully out of the window. All the upper-class had the day off and had decided to spend it right by the window Karin sat at.

There were four boys out there, kicking around a beaten up football. All in about their mid teens, maybe a little younger than own older her brother. Karin scowled, her brother was stupid…

"Kurosaki, do you think it would be possible for you to join the lesson now?" the shrill voice of her sensei broke Karin's thought pattern and the rest of her class sniggered. Karin felt like breaking things. A lot of things. Her teacher's head being one of them.

She turned away from the window and vainly glanced at the blackboard. It was some five or ten minutes later that Karin became acutely aware that she was being watched. She glanced out the window and noticed the four boys had stopped kicking their football and were looking at her through it. The one nearest to her, a tall boy with fair hair a green eyes, grinned and winked at her.

Karin went red and stared, a little harder than she meant to, at the blackboard. The older boy's smile unnerved her. She heard one of them mutter something then all the others laughed. 'Was is about her?' Karin didn't know, but the way they kept staring at her made her feel terribly uncomfortable. Now she had even more of a reason for lessons to be over so she could go to lunch and play football.

The bell went, mercifully only a few minutes later. Karin sprang up and was first out of the door. As she passed the window on the outside, she was relieved to see that the four upperclassmen had vanished.

Only slightly calmer, she went to her locker and got out her football, deciding to put the whole memory of that class out of her head. She vented some of her excess temper by slammed the locker door shut.

"Hey, calm down. What that locker ever do to you, eh?"

Karin spun round and was met with the same green eyes that had winked at her earlier. She swallowed and went red again.

"You're that kid who wasn't paying attention in class, right?"

She nodded stupidly and looked at her shoes. The boy held out his hand.

"I'm Takai by the way."

Karin was unsure whether she should shake it or not, but decided that it was dumb to make enemies on the grounds that him and his friends may, or may not, have said something about her.

Speaking of his friends, he was swiftly joined by them. They were all in the upper class, and Karin was introduced to them before she had time to think.

'Taro, Akira and Kiyoshi.'

"Hey, you into football then?" said Akira, grabbing her ball and heading it a few times, keeping it just out of her reach.

"You wanna come play with us?" Taro grabbed the ball from Akira and chucked it at Karin.

Karin flinched and caught it. She didn't know that she wanted to be going off with the older boys. But the prospect of a game of football with people who didn't suck as hard as her normal opponents, was a tempting one. Finally, after a long a painful pause she swallowed and nodded.

Takai grinned. "Wicked."

The four of them took off without so much as another word and Karin had to sprint to keep up with them, down the corridor and out onto the playing field….

Karin had _the best _time of her entire life. She dived, she tackled, she scored. Akira and Kiyoshi heaved her up on their shoulders shouting things like 'Isn't she fantastic! She kicks way more butt than you! And she's like what, eleven?'

It was such a great afternoon that she didn't notice the furtive looks the other team's captain was throwing her. Takai had hardly taken his eyes off her for the whole game despite being all the way at the other end of the pitch. If Karin _had_ noticed his stares would have certainly made her very, _very_ uncomfortable.

But as it went, she was quite happy to go score two more goals and become the darling of Akira and Kiyoshi's team. When the match ended she was sent off with many pats on the head and calls of 'You rock, Kurosaki.'

Karin beamed her rare little grin and stumbled wearily off to a tap to wash her face. Football was a hot and sweaty game, and she was covered in dirt. She cursed and scrubbed at her face, knowing what deep trouble she'd be in from fucking sensei if she showed up filthy to class again.

"Yare yare, aren't you a sight?" came a familiar drawl from behind her.

Karin leapt half a foot in the air. And turned to glare at Takai. He smiled his perfect white smile in return.

"Sumimasen, did I scare you Karin?"

Karin glowered even harder, she wanted to say something like 'No you didn't scare me, just don't sneak up on me like that, _ever_!' And she wasn't very keen on his use of her name so casually. It was off-putting.

"Here," he said, pulling a clean hankie out of his pocket and dipping a corner in the water. Before attempting to remove the mud from her face. Karin went to flinch away from this attention but to no avail. He gripped her arm and continued what he was doing, not looking at her. The way he took his time seemed to imply he was waiting for something.

Karin was briefly relived to hear someone calling Takai's name, think that would mean him going away and letting go of her. Her heart sank however as the slim dark figure of Taro came jogging over. He nodded at Karin briefly glancing at her, before turning to Takai.

It was obvious these two were better friends that with the other two who had first been introduced to Karin. They seemed to understand each other without many words. Both nodding and deliberating over their course of action.

Karin was suddenly quite frightened as to her situation. She always chose the tap furthest away from the over populated areas of the school, just to get some peace and quiet. This was apparent now. Despite lunchtime still going and student all over the school running around and shouting, there was not a sound to be heard where they were. That meant that no-one could hear them. Her arm still tingled where he had grabbed her she didn't like the way these boys seemed to be discussing her, in their own secret way.

She thought about running, it was a clear path back over the playground to where she guesses people would be, but she knew, fast as she was, these boys were far faster and could take her down in a few seconds. Even with a strong lead she would be caught easily.

'_That is_,' she reasoned. '_If they actually intend to do anything._' Karin knew she had a tendency to be suspicious and paranoid about everything. '_Maybe they _are_ just talking, maybe this is all in my head._'

Takai turned back to Karin and smiled an icier smile than was natural. His teeth gleamed.

"We were discussing the match today. You did good. We think you're pretty cool, Taro and I were just thinking it would be good if you came and played football with us more often."

He started to walk towards her. Staring hard at her, as if he was thinking very carefully about what he would say or do next. Karin went to step backwards but found that Taro was there. Still refusing to look her in the eye.

She was trapped and she hadn't even noticed it. Takai continued to stalk towards her. He licked his lips and gripped her shoulders. Karin tried to jerk away but Taro grabbed her arms. They were both a lot bigger and stronger than she was powerless against them.

But she gave it a good shot, she swung her leg up to kick Takai hard, in the shin. But the older boy was too quick, he grabbed both her legs and shoved her down onto the ground, his hands roaming up her legs.

Karin struggled and kicked. She tried to cry out but Takai's mouth was covering hers, she couldn't breath, she shut her eyes, wishing it were over.

'_Oh god_,' she though. '_Oh god, no._'


	2. Barbed Wire

**Author:** - Erizawa Hoshie.

**Title:** - Dark Diary – Chapter II

**Genre:** - Drama/Angst (maybe some romance later on if you're good.)

**Summary:** - Kurosaki Karin at school, gets some, unwanted attention from some upperclassmen. Very unwanted, but how will she keep I from her prying older brother?

**Rating:** - M, very very M. (There will be harassment, there will be rape, there might even be incest, you have been warned.)

**Disclaimer:** - Do. Not. Own. Bleach. Period.

**Notes:** - Good LORD!! Erizawa isn't dead!! I feel terrible, I just haven't been able to write anything for an absolute AGE! In any of my stories… it wasn't until I got back from work today to find a review from Kanamelover that I remembered I had an obligation to Llamas Are Sexy.

So here it is, the very next chapter of '_Dark Diary_' - please enjoy my first foray into fanfic for quite some time…

'Karin ran, she wasn't quite sure what she was running from but whatever it was, it scared her. She had never been so scared in her entire life. It felt like she was on her fire, her lungs were about to burst, tears streamed down her cheeks. She tried to leap the fence, a desperate attempt to get away from her pursuer, but to no avail. Her foot caught on the barbed wire. He grabbed her hair and dragged her back into the darkness, ripping her legs open on the razor edges. Karin cried out, not so much out of pain, but out of pure fear. Part of her wished this was all just a nightmare from which she could easily wake up………'

"Karin, o nee chan, you're going to be late for school," the comforting voice of Yuzu scattered her nightmare. Karin hurriedly rubbed the drying tears from her face and went to get up, but not before stealing a fleeting glance at her legs…

As she expected there was nothing there, no blood, no gaping wounds, no remnants of long rusted barbed wire… She decided to wear long trousers to school anyway, just to be safe. Ichigo eyed her suspiciously as she sat down at the breakfast table and ate her toast. Karin having learned to detect unwanted attention, scowled at him.

"What?!" her tone was harsh, almost too harsh, after all he hadn't _done_ anything, but Karin had begun to suspect men of absolutely anything recently.

Ichigo simply shrugged, maybe he was being paranoid, after all Karin was usually moody or pissed off at someone. Maybe she'd just found someone else who could score from the half way line, or someone who could finally match her power kicks. Either way, he decided to leave it for now. '_Maybe it's just that time of the month?_'

Karin stood up finally, after being able to take no more of her family and proclaimed in a solemn voice.

"I'm going to school now…"

It all seemed a bit unnecessary. Three pairs of eyes watched her leave. Ichigo preventing their delightful father from delivering a 'Farewell Eldest Daughter' glomp, by digging his foot into the over-enthusiastic parent's stomach. Ichigo still found his little sister's new change in attitude suspicious.

---

A stone flew across the street before crashing into a dustbin. A cat sprang away angrily. Karin was deliberately taking her time she knew every step she covered, took her one step closer to school, and one step closer to _them_. She shivered and ran her hand over the barbed wire fence. The rusty wires dug into her hand, she pressed harder making her fingers bleed.

She sighed, contemplating the idea of skiving school all together. But that wouldn't work, the school would undoubtedly phone home. Her Dad was useless, he'd just lecture her about '_The importance of school the development of a young person's mind,_' but he wouldn't get the truth out of her, not in a million years…

But Ichi nii. He was different. For some reason Karin didn't want him to know if she skipped school. She _especially_ didn't want him to know what they did to her when she went to school. She shuddered again, her brother frightened her, there was something about him that whispered '_I've hurt people and I can do it again_.'

The sound of distant laughter filled her ears. Her feet had carried her to school whether she wanted them to or not. She sighed, _ever the optimist_, maybe they would leave her alone today? Maybe.

"Karin chan!" called one of her younger friends, he ran up to her out of breath. "Karin chan, come play football with us!?"

"Sorry Inari, I can't," she said gently, before wandering off to dump her bag in her locker. Her mind was a paranoid mess, everywhere she looked she saw Takai's wicked green eyes, every time she heard a laugh she expected Taro's cold snigger. Someone tapped her on the shoulder and she leapt a foot out of her skin.

"Uh, Karin chan?" not Takai's narrow green eyes, but Inari's large brown ones. "Are you alright? You just seem a bit…" he tailed off, unsure of what to say. He'd always looked up to Karin, she was always so strong and lively. Sure she could be a bitch sometimes, but she was his friend, and it worried him to see her so distress.

Karin glared down at him in her friendly way and flicked him on the forehead, before smirked lopsidedly, trying to be positive for her friend.

"I'm fine brat, don't worry."

---

Karin didn't cry. She knew that would only make him smirk even more. But she _did_ stop, she had no alternative but to acknowledge their presence, they saw her first. She'd spent the whole day happily, chatting with Inari and playing football with her old friends. Not once did she see her upperclassmen tormentors. Until now.

The long walk home. A perfect place to catch an 11 year old girl. Tired from a long day at school, too tired to fight back. But not so tired that she's not afraid. They liked her with more than a little fear in her eyes that Karin was loath to show. She trembled though. The though of running crossed her mind, maybe, just maybe, this time she could out run them.

But they were on her before she had time to lift her eyes and see them move. Takai grabbed her hair and Taro had her legs. The boys were a skilled and practised team, they had the three of them completely hidden from the road within a few seconds.

It was a shame Karin was so young. Had she been just a little older then them she may have over powered them, but when Takai threw her into the wall she knew she could never escape them.

She bowed her head and bit her lip, promising herself she wouldn't be afraid this time. But she always flinched as he crouched down at her level. When he spoke it was like nails being driven into her, but she was compelled to listen.

"Karin, surely you're not _still_ afraid?" his face was so close to hers she wanted to shut her eyes, to look away even for second. But she couldn't. And that frightened her more than anything.

Karin wanted to be afraid as the older boy averted his gaze, but she knew what came next. Takai's long fingers would ease beneath her wait band down, toying with her youthful skin, leering at her poorly concealed terror.

Taro watched them out of the corner of his eye, keeping watch on the nearby street. He appeared to be waiting his turn, a thought that made Karin sick to her stomach. She knew her ability to keep calm was rapidly decreasing, if he didn't stop soon she was going to find herself crying and struggling to escape.

'_Please, let it just be over,_' she prayed.

The sound of laughter filled the air, not the forbidding, slightly feminine snigger of Takai and his acolyte but genuine laughter. It was a woman's. Karin felt her violator back off and stand up, he looked quizzically at his friend.

"That Aya?"

Taro nodded grimly.

"She's with Yoshi and Aki."

The laughter was getting louder, Karin could now hear male voices shouting and joking as the little party drew nearer. Takai hastily brushed himself down and hauled Karin to her feet, but he didn't let go of her wrist. His nails dug painfully into her bones as he dragged her towards the opening of the, indicating to her that if she breathed a word, her life would be worse than over.

As the voices got closer and Karin could just about catch broken snatches of conversation Takai's whole mood changed, his sneering face changed to a jovial winking smile, he slapped her hard on the back and laughed loudly, striding out of Karin's darkened alley. Taro did the same, getting his drift at once.

"Haha Karin chan! You're football isn't down here either are you sure you didn't leave it at school? Maybe it's… Oh! Yoshi! Aki! Aya chan what are you guys doing here?!"

Takai made towards Aya kissing her swiftly and draping his arm lazily over her shoulder. He touched her with the same indifferent lack of affection as Karin. Taro nodded along with the story.

"Yeah! We were just helping Karin chan find her football, dumb brat's gone and lost it on the way home she says, isn't that right Karin chan?"

Karin was too fazed to respond with anything other than a nod, she stared at Aya, obviously Takai's girlfriend. She wasn't exactly beautiful, she was more, agreeable looking and she wasn't slim, she was more, gaunt and pinched. Her thin blonde hair lay lifeless against her hollow cheeks and her shrewd eyes considered Karin a moment before,

"Well if the silly girl's lost her little football then let her find it herself! Come _on _you two we've been looking for you everywhere let's go eat," and she sulked off, taking her reprehensible swain with her as Takai gave Karin one final look that told her there would be more darkened alleys in her future, she shivered.

Akira and Kiyoshi gave her a queer look as they passed by, both nodding their greetings and finally, Taro stalked after them silent and sullen. It wasn't until all five of them were well around the corner at the end of the street, did Karin manage to find her legs again and she raced home, resolving to save her emotions until she was safely locked in her own room.

---

Ichigo was worried, Karin was never usually this late home without good reason. The middle school let out a good half an hour earlier than the high school and he had walked the long way home to talk with Chad and Ishida.

'_Where is she!_' he growled internally. Part of him really wanted to be angry with her, but he couldn't bring himself to listen to that part. He was worried, he knew something was wrong with his little sister. Call it 'Big Brother's intuition' or something.

When the front door finally swung open and the melancholy figure of Kurosaki Karin slouched in, Ichigo didn't know whether to shout at her or throw his arms around her in an Isshin style bear hug. He did nothing as he glanced at her expression through the kitchen door. Her manner felt like part gloom and thunder and part like she was about to burst into tears.

She ran upstairs, not even noticing her big brother stood, observing her from the next room. It wasn't until she had locked the door and lain down on her bed that she felt she was truly allowed to let it all out… but she couldn't. She wanted to, she wanted to cry and feel sorry for herself all night and never to leave her room again. But her conditioning as the stoic, unemotional Kurosaki sister wouldn't let her.

She swung her legs over the edge of the unmade bed and settled down at her desk, pulling an old red book from the very bottom of the unkempt drawn.

Karin would never admit to anyone that she kept a diary. She'd kept it ever since her mother's death and it was her only non-violent way of letting go and unburdening herself of life's little problems. But this wasn't a little problem. This wasn't like the rest of the diary's contents; full of moans about her family, and school and losing a football match and having her hair cut. This was a problem she'd never told anyone. She pulled a pen out of her bag and began that day's entry.

'_Dear Diary…_"


	3. How did I get here and how do I get out?

**Author:** - Erizawa Hoshi.

**Title:** - Dark Diary – Chapter III

**Genre:** - Drama/Angst (maybe some romance later on if you're good.)

**Summary:** - Kurosaki Karin at school, gets some, unwanted attention from some upperclassmen. Very unwanted, but how will she keep I from her prying older brother?

**Rating:** - M, very very M. (There will be harassment, there will be rape, there might even be incest, you have been warned.)

**Disclaimer:** - Do. Not. Own. Bleach. Period.

**Notes:** - Shoop de friggin whoop t'is be another chapter from darling Erizawa. –all worships and then fucks off home- I am on holiday for Christmas right now, back home with my wonderful family. Sorry this chapter isn't as long as some would have hoped, I wrote this in one day, surrounded by my crazed brother, hormonal sisters, my mum and my uncle arguing and a dog with some sort of dog flu… not an easy task, so please. Enjoy…

He laughed cruelly. Karin shivered looking up into Takai's manic, taught face. She could detect a hint of underage alcohol on him. She tried to look away but he grabbed her face and stole a lazy, arrogant kiss, drawing blood from her virginal lips. Karin whimpered trying to pull away, but he clamped a heavy hand to the back of her head forcing her closer to him.

How had she let herself get here, in the home of the very boy she so feared. Right now, all she could remember were distant snatches of conversation, so long ago.

"_Takai, who's this?"_

"_No one Mum! Just some middle school kid I'm tutoring."_

He had made himself perfectly clear. If she made a noise, she was dead.

She whimpered again as he yanked her head back; biting down hard on her neck as if to tear her throat out. Karin couldn't know what he was going to do. This was totally different to any of the other times. They were alone and they had all the time in the world. It was a Friday, she usually went home to Inari's for tea, but Takai forced her to ditch her friends and dragged her back to his house.

Now they were alone, just him and her. There was no way his mother could ever guess what her son was doing. What self-respecting fifteen year old would ever do this to a middle schooler _for fun_? How sick would a person have to be, Karin feared she would soon find out.

Mechanically he stripped her bare, taking the time to drag his nails painfully over her boyish chest, his touches never meant to produce pleasure, only fear. Each dig that drew blood made her flinch and cower, until he bent down to whisper viciously in her ear,

"Are you still afraid little girl."

It wasn't a question.

Karin shivered and screwed her eyes shut, if he was going to do his worst she couldn't watch; she could never look at him again. She felt Takai pull away from her, kneeling up on the bed. She gasped silently at the sound of him unzipping his flies and dumping his jeans on the floor.

Karin tried to pull her legs together but he shoved them apart and forced his way in, breaking all her defences and drawing a sharp intake of breath. Karin let out a strangled wail, tears stinging the back of her eyes. It hurt so bad, the worst pain she had ever felt in her life. She tried to scream; she couldn't imagine the death he promised being any worse than this, but he forced a clammy hand over her mouth.

She choked silently as he fucked her, blood running down the inside of her legs. Karin wanted to be sick, hearing him moan and thrust into her. She wept silently and tried to push him away, but it was no good; he was too far-gone, and she would never be the same again.

XoXoX

Karin was shaking as she opened the front door of her own home. It took her a moment to register Yuzu sat silently at the kitchen table, watching with frightened eyes.

"O nee chan," she whispered, on the verge of tears. "Where _were _you? Inari kun just called; he wanted to know why you didn't walk home with him. It's been over _four hours_. What happened?"

For all Karin's emotional exhaustion she found herself face-to-face and furious at her baby sister, gripping her shoulders, almost trying to cause her pain.

"Do Dad and Ichi nii know? Have you told them?"

Yuzu shook her head, tears dripping down her cheeks. Karin let her loose, dropping her back onto the chair, snapping,

"If anyone asks, I just got back from Inari's and I've already eaten!"

Before stalking off to her own bed, finally letting tears totally overwhelm her. He diary could wait until morning, when the details were less violent…

…and clear.

XoXoX

It couldn't have been six in the morning when Karin snuck out of her bedroom window. She couldn't face her family today. She especially couldn't face her brother and see in his deep, amber eyes… what? Anger, sorrow, a sort of reproachful paternalism? Whatever she saw there, she knew it wouldn't help her torment.

Her thoughts carried her downtown. Where abouts _he_ lived she didn't remember but she would never see Karakura town the same again; that her home could have spawned such a creature. Karin shuddered. It was still very early in the day. She wondered if they even realised she was gone. She didn't care. She'd stay out all day. At least then _he'd_ never know where she was, know one would. 'Not even…'

Her thoughts were cut short by a head on collision with a teenage mass of gawky limbs and platinum blonde hair. The younger girl was about to hurl various shades of abuse at this interloper, but her insults caught in her throat like a bad taste as she realised who it was.

"Oh, it's you," said Aya with a tinge of disdain.

Karin considered running, as if this harpy had some sort of voodoo connection with her 'boyfriend'. She decided it wouldn't be smart; the smitten teen was probably still oblivious to what he was capable of. Aya sneered again, flicking lank hair off her face.

"Listen Rug Rat, I see you hanging around Tai chan a lot and don't you think it's kinda pathetic, you know, an eight year old kid clinging onto a _high schooler_. I know he wouldn't say anything, he's too nice for that, but _I_ can see it bugs him. So, you know, just leave him alone!"

The preteen gave her a black look. How _dare _she, the stupid cow! She knew nothing of what a total bastard he was. It made her so angry, that this stupid bitch thought she knew what was going on. Had it been for any other reason, Karin would've quite happily broken the smug airhead's face. But for some reason she was having trouble not bursting into tears, she just manage a shaky,

"I'd rather _not _have to spend time with your rapist boyfriend anyway so get him to leave me, the fuck, alone!"

This left Aya feeling short of confused, but before she could gainsay, the eldest Kurosaki sister had turned and run, as far away from stupid Aya and her disgusting swain, as she could. Karin knew she'd done it now. Aya would, no doubt, return to himand ask what 'that Rug Rat' was on about. Once he knew what his 'victim' had done her life wouldn't even be worth living. Not that it was worth much now. This was it, the end of the line.

XoXoX

Ichigo stormed in. He had looked everywhere. In town, down the park, school, the football fields…

'_Where IS she?!_' he thought to himself through mentally gritted teeth.

Karin not coming down for breakfast wasn't unusual, but it wasn't until Yuzu took in her fresh laundry at about midday that the family realised something was amiss…

"_What are you young people all doing?"_

"_Dad, we can't open the door."_

"_Stand back Ichigo. I'LL deal with this!"_

"_There was no need to kick the door in Papa."_

"_You mad bastard, what if she'd been right on the other side!"_

"_O nee chan? O nee chan? Where is she?"_

"_Oh NO. The window, she must have fallen out!"_

Ichigo had been worried about her for weeks, but this was the most frightening time yet. Karin hadn't run away in years, not since some time after Mum died, but Ichigo has said it was only a matter of time before she tried it again. His Dad had called it paranoia and Yuzu said it was 'sweet big brother's intuition' or some such crap, but Ichigo _knew_ something was wrong. He had tried to broach the subject with his Karin many times, but she just sulked and told him to leave her alone and then she'd hide in her room for hours.

'_Her room!_'

Ichigo couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before. Usually his little sister's room was out of bounds, but this was a special instance. If the answer was anywhere, it would be there.

He tiptoed up to the bedroom door, not entirely sure who he was hiding from, it just seemed so illicit, like he could get in trouble. The door was still slightly ajar from earlier so it was easy to sneak in without making too much noise. Once inside he took a second to breath and survey what he was faced with. Karin's room was an absolute bombsite, the result of many angry nights and remorseful mornings.

He tried to sift through some of the debris on the floor but when he picked up a pair of her panties he backed away swiftly and went to the desk, blushing furiously. There was nothing but work and boring things on the desk, but the draws told a different story. Ichigo studied with keen interest the drawings his sister had shoved in the top draw, trying to decipher some deeper psychological meaning from them.

This made his head hurt so he turned at last to the bottom draw. This seemed a similarly useless source of clues. It was stuffed with scrap paper, an old report card or two and a number of gum wrappers; absolutely nothing of value, except…

His eye was caught by the corner of a faded red book at the very bottom of the draw. He pulled it out, expecting some sort of old school book or doodle pad. He was then, of course, shocked to read the embossed but battered gold title '_Diary_'. He had no idea his little sister kept a diary.

He knew it was wrong, he knew these were her innermost thoughts that should remain strictly private from anyone. But now she had run away, she was missing, she could be anywhere. This book could hold all the answers to what had been going on with her for so long now. He nodded to himself. It was his duty as a brother to protect her, and in order to do that he had to know her problem.

Ichigo settled down at Karin's desk, opened her diary and began to read,

"_Dear Diary…_"


	4. Big Brother

There was a thud as the little red book slipped onto the floor

**Notes:** I have been meaning to finish this chapter for some time, but I had to finish a birthday commission for a friend's birthday, I will post that next. Thank you for everyone who has hung in there reading this fic. Especially she who requested this fic… I shall hopefully be better at updating from now on. Keep reading, keep reviewing. Enjoy…

There was a thud as the little red book slipped onto the floor. Ichigo's hands trembled as he stared at it. What had he just read? He felt… rage. Someone had hurt his sister. _His_ sister! He clenched his fists and slowly rose from his seat, desperately trying not to break everything in the room in an effort to maintain calm. He kicked the offending book under the desk to hide it from Yuzu and Dad.

'_Met some guys today. Older guys, I think they're in Ichi-nii's class. Anyway they are upper classmen. ACE at football, oh my __**god**__, I have never had such a good game before. It was just me a Kiyoshi against all of them. Taro and Akira were pretty good, but Takai totally __carried__ that team! Hehe, where would 'Yoshi have been without me? I totally have to play with them again…_'

The page was dotted here in there with spots where the ink had run. She has obviously wept all over this page. Denial. Her tone was too cheerful, her hands had trembled as she had written this. _Desperately_trying to lie, even to herself. But couldn't maintain this façade. She didn't mention names again, but Ichigo had the four he needed as he thundered down the stairs, not bothering to tell anyone where he was going.

'…_perhaps I should have pleaded. Maybe he would have let me go. I shouldn't have kicked out at him. That just made him angry. Oh God I never want to see him angry like that again. His eyes, there was something in his eyes. He's pure evil, he's not human…_'

There was no school today, but Ichigo could find anyone in this town, the boys in his class were always easy to locate. _Kiyoshi, Akira, Taro, Takai._ He recited this list to himself over and over, it was his mantra of vengeance. For what they did to his sister, they would pay.

'_I can't believe he has a girlfriend. He just changed so suddenly when she arrived. Like nothing had happened. They __both __just acted like nothing had happened! She was a bitch anyway, they deserve each other. No… nobody deserved him. _'

The arcade was unusually quiet for a weekend, but that was no matter. Kurosaki had already acquired his targets. Kiyoshi and Akira, laughing and playing in the corner. They seemed so carefree and normal. But Ichigo knew. He'd never had a problem with these two, it disgusted people that he would willingly call 'casual acquaintances' could betray his trust so thoroughly.

They saw him striding forward, missing his scowl and not guessing his true intentions. That was, until the enraged Kurosaki grabbed the younger boy by his hair and slammed his face into a nearby game. A knee to the face, a sickening crack and Kiyoshi slumped unconscious on the floor, Ichigo rounded on his trembling companion.

"Jesus Kurosaki, what the hell?!" Akira shrieked, trying to sound even halfway relaxed, doing his best to ignore the blood still pouring from his best friend's face.

Ichigo fought to keep himself still as he hissed.

"What did you do to my sister."

Akira threw him a terrified look.

"Who? Karin? I never did nothing to her ok, it was Takai's idea to let her play football with us, she's an ok kid but I don't hang out with her or anything…"

Realising this wasn't the response his classmate was looking for Akira hurriedly tried to grasp for some way to talk himself out of a similar bloody fate.

"If you're talking about her getting home late, or getting injured on the pitch, Takai sees her more than us! Yeah! Takai and Taro, they're always with her, Aya keeps talking about it. How they spend so much time with them! It pisses her off, it's _them_ you want."

Ichigo was getting rapidly bored of this guy's terrified snivelling. He turned as if to go, leaving Akira's mouth flapping weirdly, trying to think of something else to say before the orange haired youth spun on his heel and punched the other boy across the table and squarely into the wall with a moan.

"Coward," muttered Ichigo, swiftly exiting the building.

Aya? Aya… the name rung a bell at the back of Ichigo's mind. She wasn't in his class, but she was probably in the same school. He mused that he probably shouldn't have knocked out the only two people who give him a more precise location. He sighed and continued in his angry rampage, this time looking for someone,_ anyone_ he knew who could help him.

"_I thought sex was supposed to feel good. That's what people are always saying at school and on the TV. Why didn't it feel good, why did it hurt so badly. I wanted to die so much, and I wanted him to die…_"

Ichigo had never been happier to see Ishida in his entire life. The smug Quincy looked at him with something akin to disdain as he was roughly grabbed by the young shinigami substitute.

"Ishida! Aya What'serface! I am pretty sure she goes to our school, she's dating Takai … What'shisface… you know in our class. The smug bastard with the blonde hair. You know! Where is she?!"

Ishida looked at him incredulously.

"Kurosaki try making more sense next time you interrupt my day."

Ichigo could have punched him.

"Listen Ishida, this is important. Karin's run away from home and these guys know something about it! But I don't have a fucking clue where there are and I need to find this bloody Aya girl so I can find them, understand?"

Ishida paused and thought for a moment.

"Matsuoka Aya, I don't think she lives far from me, her father and my father work together. I suppose you could back with me and find her that way…"

He was unable to finish his smug pontificating as he felt himself grabbed by the aggressive orange-haired and almost dragged down the unfamiliar streets of Ishida's neighbourhood.

"Which one is her place? Do you have a number or something or should I start breaking down doors?"

His 'travelling companion' was worried. He had never seen Ichigo this worried and stressed before. Never in any pitch battle, or hollow fight, or even his showdown with the Menos Grande had the Quincy seen Ichigo like this.

"Ku… Kurosaki, you should probably slow down, otherwise you're going to hurt someone (…or yourself.) I can show you which one is her house, but you have to promise to calm down. I know you are worried about your sister, but you won't solve anything by rushing in like an idiot and throwing your weight about."

Ichigo stopped in his stride. He knew that smug bastard was right. He couldn't go smacking around this Aya girl like he had done with those idiots at the arcade, he would have to behave at least half way civilised. It was just so hard to act with any sort of restraint when he had so much rage inside, after what he had read.

"_They don't care. Ichi nii, Yuzu, Dad – none of them understand how it feels to be me now. None of them would notice if I just vanished and never came back. Sometimes I wish I could just disappear…"_

The two of them finally came to a halt in front of an imposing white building. Ichigo found himself staring, wondering why his day had turned out this awful. He was worried, what if this Aya didn't give him any information? What if she wasn't even here? He could feel himself sweating, his fists clenching in frustration.

His slim companion looked up at him, Ichigo was every picture the archetypal concerned brother. His jaw was set grimly and his eyes were distant.

"Are you that worried about her, Kurosaki?"

He didn't answer straight away, he hoped he wouldn't have to. Confronting these strong feelings that welled up whenever he thought of his younger sister was becoming tougher. He just wanted to scream and break things when he thought of where she might be now, or what might be happening to her.

The orange haired shinigami placed a resolute hand on the gate, snapping out of his paranoid stupor. He shook his head.

"Thank you Ishida. You don't have to come any further. I'll see you around, ok?"

The young Quincy nodded and turned to leave.

"Good luck Kurosaki. I hope you find her…" he said, almost to himself.

When they parted ways Ichigo knew there was no turning back. He wondered why he found the idea of confronting this girl, so intimidating. Ichigo had never been terribly good at dealing with girls, especially the sort of girls in his class – shrill and bothersome.

But as he approached to front door, Ichigo was uneasy, something felt wrong about this house. He knocked tentatively at the white door. He could hear noises coming from the other side and knocked harder.

"Uh… Aya? It's Kurosaki Ichigo. Just get out here, ok? I need to talk to you about my sister."

Still nothing but an odd muffled noise, almost like crying. Ichigo was becoming worried.

"Oi! I'm gonna come in. I just want to talk, I won't hurt you or nothin'…"

He reached down to open the door, ignoring the frantic scramble on the other side. As the door creaked open he cast his eyes about, before finally lighting upon something that gave him severe chills. It almost make him sick.

"Fucking hell…" he breathed.

oooo

Karin slumped behind a low wall in the park. She was safe there, away from home, from school, from everything. She wondered if she could ever go home after all this time. It had only really been a few hours, but there was no way she could _ever_ explain her absence. She supposed they would be out looking for her, then again, what if they didn't care?

The dying grass felt rough against the back of her legs, the sun was high and aggressive in the sky, draining Karin of her will to carry on running. She was starving hungry, skipping breakfast had probably not been the best idea in retrospect.

Tears stung the backs of her eyes, she had wanted to cry again every since finding her hiding spot in the park, she hoped a good cry would cool her head, but it didn't, it just made her feel sick. Karin was so empty and alone here, she hadn't felt this lost and afraid since she was a little girl.

She missed her Ichi nii. It was a realisation that struck her as she wept into her knees, her arms wrapped around her legs. Maybe she should go home, the thought of crawling into her big brother's lap… He wouldn't let her be afraid any more, he'd keep her safe from…

The park gate clattered open with a bang. Karin jumped and peered out from round her little shelter. She paled.

'_How she he know I was here?_'

The bloodied and bruised hands, that fierce expression, her whole body went numb, how had he found her? He sneered coldly,

"What did you tell my girlfriend, little girl?"


End file.
